The freezer is stocked

Sean got home tuesday, from his hunting trip, with 4 deer! My kitchen table was a butcher’s block for two days, while he prepared the meat for individual meals. Most people have never tried venison. Or if they have, their experience is like my first try:

kitchen table circa 1978:
Mom: “How did ya’ll like your hamburgers?”
Me: (afraid of being to honest, but frankly they tasted freezer burnt) “They were… good…”
Mom: (proud of herself for “pulling one over on us”) “That was venison.” *Confused looks from us* “Deer meat…”

That was my last venison experience: gamey, weird and tricked!

Until we moved to Wisconsin. Everyone hunts. We were those “weird east-coast folks” who didn’t know a musket from a muskee. In fact, when we bought our home, we were hard pressed to find a house, in any price range, without at least one buck head mounted on the wall.

We made it three years before Sean went out hunting. His good friend took him out and immediately, he was hooked.

However, I had to be slowly introduced to the idea and be given an adjustment period to get used to the deer being brought home, so proudly, in the back of my husband’s truck.

Immediately, though, I saw a plus: Sean cooked the venison! I didn’t have to touch it, look at it, nothin’, in order to get the meat onto the table.

And really, and truly, it is the tastiest meat ever. It is lean; it is tender, it is healthy (ie – no artificial hormones) and it is inexpensive.

We (okay, my husband) grill it, roast it, slow cook it (although I don’t have one of these) and never, have we had a bad meal with it.

Best of all, my husband loves that he can literally, put the food on the table.

I know that some people take issue with hunting. I think that is unfortunate. All of the hunters that I have met (and trust me, in northern Wisconsin, you meet A LOT of hunters) are some of the most ethical, kind-hearted, down-to-earth people you will ever know. (actually, for full disclosure, I, myself, have my own bow, though I have not had a chance to go out with it on a hunt…)

If you ever have a chance, try some venison.

And if you need a good venison recipe, let me know.

However, I have no advice on decorating with or hanging those buck mounts…

Comments

Karla,I love you hunting stories and remember when Sean was become a true “Wisconsinite”! I am so glad that Robert has not acquired that yet!!! After 30 years, maybe he never will! Miss you and think about you often.Patti

If ya need a place to store some of that meat, you can ship it up to NY. The boys and I will “take care of it” for ya.Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We wish we could have been there with you all.Give my love to the little ones.Mark